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Monday, 14 July 2014

KENTA in the Land of Sports Entertainment

So WWE’s signed KENTA to a developmental contract. This
is kind of a big deal.

Kenta Kobayashi (he wisely chose to stylize his ring name
KENTA in part to avoid confusion with his real life mentor and fellow wrestler
Kenta Kobashi) previously worked for Pro Wrestling NOAH and had been their
biggest name and most reliable wrestler for several years. He is (or was) the
most significant name in puroresu not to be working for New Japan. That
company, along with WWE, TNA, All Japan and NOAH, had all made their interest
in him known but KENTA opted to go with WWE’s offer. Perhaps he’s always dreamt
of being a WWE Superstar™.

The KENTA signing is all thanks to Hulk you know.

KENTA will start out stationed in NXT. He may have been
the top star of NOAH and wrestled a variety of styles around the world but that
doesn’t matter. In modern WWE everyone starts the same way. Which makes perfect
sense. KENTA needs to familiarise himself with the WWE ring, learn how to
interact with a WWE crowd, and get used to wrestling alongside the WWE camera
setup, amongst dozens of other intricacies.

And, of course, he needs to improve his English. He’s not
fluent. WWE won’t want him to be but they will want him to be passable before
they promote him to the main roster, and understandably so. He needs to be able
to have basic interactions with fans outside arenas and in airports, and have a
decent enough understanding of the language to read an audience and interact
with fellow wrestlers. It’s all as much a part of the job as kicking people
really hard.

This is not to say that KENTA needs perfect English to
succeed in WWE. I don’t think that’s the case. Many wrestlers have made it to
positions of prominence with limited verbal skills. The most obvious example is
Brock Lesnar. During his initial run with the company he developed into a
decent, if unspectacular, talker. Since returning he’s barely uttered a word,
instead being paired up with premier chat man Paul Heyman.

Outside of WWE Sabu exhibited drawing power as a crazed
madman that never spoke in both the US and Japan in the 90s. Goldberg was about
the only star WCW created for themselves, and he was never one for long promos.
Vader, Taz, and Rob Van Dam were all star attractions for various promotions
without speaking. Back in WWE Undertaker initially became a star without really
doing much beyond wrestling slowly and looming as managers nattered about him.

Of course, there are arguments for why none of this
applies to KENTA. Sabu, Goldberg and anyone else who became a star without
talking outside of WWE were all working in different systems with different
expectations and requirements. Undertaker had a very specific gimmick that didn’t
lend itself to lengthy promos. And Brock Lesnar is Brock Lesnar, a proven box
office draw with a star aura whose limitations WWE will work around because of
the wealth of positive attributes he possesses.

But, really, none of this matters. If KENTA’s English is
deemed not good enough it needn’t stop him becoming a star. He could be
introduced as an “international superstar” Heyman Guy. He could be introduced
as a member of The Authority, handpicked by Triple H as another star of
tomorrow. WWE could even get their act together and cast another manager to
pair KENTA with. Ultimately an inability to cut lengthy promos will only hinder
KENTA (under whatever ring name he ends up with) as much as WWE allows it to.
It’s his ability to interact with crowds and the quality of his matches that
will determine whether KENTA becomes a star or not.